Earthquake Early Warning System Tested in California
Oakland California, along with Alameda County, recently tested an earthquake early warning system facilitated via wireless emergency alerts (WEA). About 40,000 residents received the alert from the ShakeAlert system, and they were surveyed after the fact to gauge their perception of the test.
Results of the Earthquake Early Warning System Test
The test was endorsed by the US Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with the California Office of Emergency Services, and it was sent to 40,000 residents within a 60-mile radius via cell broadcast. The purpose of the early warning system test was to solicit feedback, and nearly 1,000 alert-recipients voluntarily responded to the accompanying survey which asked questions such as when they received the notification, what type of cell phone they received it on, and how they would like to receive these types of alerts in the future.
Survey responses were mostly positive. For example, a key measurement criteria was the amount of time it took alert recipients to receive the alert, and most received the alert in 4 seconds or less (this is up from an estimated 30 seconds just 5 years ago). That said, some residents did not receive the alert at all, and even for those that did, speed can always be improved. Therefore, the test facilitators are working with FEMA to improve reliability and shorten the timeline.
Other proposed improvements include providing more text instruction (i.e., evacuate, shelter in place, etc.), which can be facilitated via an app (allows more content than cell broadcast, which has text character limitations). In fact, one of the learnings of the earthquake early warning system test is to incorporate both types of delivery technologies in the future, both cell networks as well as apps, to ensure that the maximum number of people are able to receive and act upon the alerts.
To sum it up, the earthquake early warning system test was mostly positive, but can be improved further by enhancing the speed at which residents get the alerts, ensuring that the alerts reach 100% of available devices, and including more instructional information into the alerts. All told, it’s a great story!
